Portrait Professional

[00silvergt]

All this time i thought banner advertising doesn't work. Ok, for the past few days this flippin' banner is bugging me...Has anyone ever used the Portrait Professional? It's only $99, if it works well, it can save sometime with the standard skin smoothening workflow.

[Imagesgranted]

tried a demo, wasnt very impressed with it, a limited package i have cs3 and aperture 2.0 and it just wouldnt have served any purpose for me. When i tested it i used several different portrait shots with different skin tones and the results werent good enough.

[Mr. Pickles]

I have heard a ton of good things about it. Heard some counterpoints like above also. For those that process a lot of portraits and such, they seem to like it. Others seem to like their original workflow better.

Like most things in post, manual gives the most control. If something offers levels of application, less is better. If you can't do that, perhaps a duplicate layer and then some drop in the opacity is the way to go. And as always, too much is too much. Seems most go overboard on skin smoothing and HDR/Tone Mapping.

[Imagesgranted]

totally agree with a fair percentage of shots going overboard on HDR. really delighted with CS3 and Aperture 2.0 so not going to change but cant make a decision between the two.

[nbrennan@new.rr.com]

I need to edit a business photo (remove) wrinkles and double chin. What free program would you suggest.

[00silvergt]

Gimp or use Mediachance Clear Skin FX. They are both free.

[hotrod4x5]

I have heard that you don't need the MAX version, it gives you support of RAW and 16 bit. Convert in your favorite program and use JPEGs.

Did you end up buying the program?

[Poco Red]

I have it and have used it on a few shots and the feed back has been very positive about the results so long as you use it sparingly. It is easy to over process with it if not carefull!

[hotrod4x5]

The price seems to have skyrockted in the past few months!

[00silvergt]

How much is it now and what was it then?

[hotrod4x5]

I found a post from Jan on Nikon Cafe that said it was $89 for MAX, which is now $119. Standard version is now $79.

I am still up in the air, I have been learning some techniques with CS3, using guassian blur, etc.

But PP does more, in one step. Whiten teeth and eyes. Reduce hot spots, smooth skin, seems to combine at least 3 or 4 action steps required to get the same results in CS3.

[00silvergt]

Originally Posted by hotrod4x5

I found a post from Jan on Nikon Cafe that said it was $89 for MAX, which is now $119. Standard version is now $79.

I am still up in the air, I have been learning some techniques with CS3, using guassian blur, etc.

But PP does more, in one step. Whiten teeth and eyes. Reduce hot spots, smooth skin, seems to combine at least 3 or 4 action steps required to get the same results in CS3.

One love/hate thing with it, is that it does everything on its own. You map out the eyes, nose, jawline, etc. and the rest if up to the software. I find it however, more often than not to over process making the skin look processed. It also changes face structure, etc. which can change the overall appearance which make the subject look completely different from the real life appearance.

[rshunk]

I've used it and I like it. However, as already stated - it is very easy to overdo it. I'm not very good at doing this sort of stuff in Photoshop (it takes me hours!) so this was nice, simple and fast!

They have an ad in the July issue is Shutterbug - enter coupon code: NE641 and save an extra 10%.


Bob S.

[mike001]

I have Portrait Professional & Adobe CS3.
I like them both, but PP is faster if you're in a hurry and don't want to spend an hr. editing a pic.
I paid $68.00 for my version a few months back.
And you can over do it if you're not careful, but it's really neat software.
One thing, doesn't work well if your subject has glasses.

regards,
m. allen
brunswick, ga.

[SureFire]

Tried the demo... like Kodak's Digital Gem Airbrush pro plug-In better.

[gumper]

Just looked at it and noticed its on sale at the moment for $59.00.

[gumper]

Well, $59.95 that is.

[00silvergt]

Originally Posted by SureFire

Tried the demo... like Kodak's Digital Gem Airbrush pro plug-In better.

I agree, I have this as well. It is nice that we don't need to exit PS to do some skin smoothening.